Le jardin des sens

Prestige Stay Montpellier

LE JARDIN DES SENS

Capital of Languedoc-Roussillon region, Montpellier is a city in the Mediterranean climate on which the sun shines all year long. Just a stone's throw from the historical centre, behind a sober facade, lies an old town house with pure, contemporary features, a peace haven overflowing with the 'art of good living’, a family home somewhere between town and country.

One can find there one of the finest restaurants in France, created by the twins Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, and Olivier Château. Since 1998, it was crowned with three Michelin stars for its cuisine at the same time creative and sophisticated.
Jacques Pourcel first met Olivier Château at Michel Trama’s in 1996. At that time he was commis waiter. They worked together there for a year. Then, Olivier went to work for Michel Bras where he met Laurent Pourcel. When the three of them opened Le Jardin des Sens, Jacques and Laurent were 24, Olivier was 21.
Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, twin sons of a local wine grower, grew up by the Mediterranean Sea. They are passionate about their profession. In the space of just a few years they have become two of the very best ambassadors of French fine food.
In 2010, they were indeed selected to represent, during six months, the French gastronomy (which now appears on the UNESCO World Intangible Heritage list) in the French Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo.

The Hotel

Restaurant, rooms and lounges turn around a landscaped closed garden. This delicate piece of nature, out of sight, already awakens the senses: sight with an orchard in wall bars, stone pines and olive trees; the sense of smell, by subtle scents of thyme, rosemary, verbena or flowers in the summer months. The swimming pool, overhanging the garden, proposes an eleven meter pond, as well as a Jacuzzi for the benefactions of the relaxation.
It is in the spirit of this simple and beau­tiful outside organization that the inside has been created. Entrusted to Bruno Borrione, Philippe Stark’s interior desi­gner, the place expresses foremost a separate lifestyle. Upon entry, they are of an extremely contemporary access. Pure lines, sofas, rugs thrown onto a sit and large windows opening onto the garden give, magically, a warm and cosy atmo­sphere. A collection of paintings and sculptures, born of emotion, seduction and encounters, displayed throughout the hotel colours, volumes and shapes to please the eye.
The 13 rooms and 2 suites are tastefully decorated and provide an elegant and unique atmosphere. Mahogany floors, linen bedspreads, comfortable armchairs, and soft lighting: everything has been carefully thought out so that the rooms to provide a rare serenity.

The furniture was specially created by the designer; television and mini bar disap­pear in very nice cabinets. Bath­rooms are in pure style, white colour dominates highlighted with exotic wood. Guests of the main suite on the top level of the hotel benefit even from a terrace and from a privative outside swimming pool with solarium, for an ideal well-

being.

Le Jardin des Sens is also equipped for small and medium-sized business mee­tings, residential or semi-residential. Three rooms outfitted for respectively 10, 20 and 50 people welcome in the peculiar atmosphere of the hotel all requests for seminars.

The restaurant

A glass cube in a Mediterranean-scented garden. The setting is light, with seating for 80/90 people, designed in an amphi­theatre, with ample spacing between the tables, high ceilings, and opening out onto the garden and the water feature, where contemporary art blends with innovative cuisine created by the duo. A southern feel in an « urban/ chic » environment.
Inside, outside, beneath the sun or the moon... here, the luxury is the space, with its natural light, and the changing foliage as the seasons go by. Time stands still, just long enough to enjoy a meal... Arousing the senses, discovering the essentials in life.
“We created this restaurant in the same way we create our dishes, firstly in our ima­gination. We wanted a garden; we wan­ted

to celebrate the five senses.”

Twins Michelin-starred Chefs, arousers of senses

Inspired by the Pourcel twins’ childhood, the region where they grew up as well
as their many travels abroad, their food reflects their characters, uncompli-cated, yet modern and creative.
They are madly enthusiastic about Mediterranean-style tastes and love all the countries which border this sea: Spain, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Morocco... All with their sun-drenched cuisine and the same basic ingredients: olive oil, tomato, spices... Their philosophy is « you can’t have good food without good produce ». They travel up and down the country looking for the best producers, local growers, fishermen and meat producers.

For them, preparing food is a constant quest to push new boundaries, to dare to step outside of classic cuisine and look around both locally and internationally for an ever-changing style. Far from any type of fashion, their sophisticated, even extravagant cuisine plays on its contrasts, sweet - sour, bitter - sweet, hot - cold, crispy - soft. High in colour, tasty and delicious it is an ode to the five senses which the Pourcel twins hold so much to heart.

Jacques and Laurent Pourcel and Olivier Château

Le Jardin des Sens
11, avenue Saint-Lazare
34000 Montpellier
Tél.: +33 (0) 4 99 58 38 38
Fax: +33 (0) 4 99 58 38 39
www.jardindessens.com

The wine expert
Since 2007, Yannis Kherachi reign over the cellar and the wine menu of the Jardin des Sens. He expresses his know-how through one of the most beautiful wine lists of the region: between 400 and 600 references, nearly 5,000 bottles among which a few old flasks like a Côte-Rôtie 1966 of the House Jaboulet.
Native of Saint-Etienne, Yannis Kherachi did its entire training course at the high school of the hospitality and tourism professions in Grenoble. He passes a Vocational Training Qualification, a Vocational Diploma, and a Vocational High School Diploma there, followed by a complemen­tary mention of sommellerie. He begins his career in Lyon, with Jean-

Paul Lacombe. Then he moves to the Square, double-starred establishment in London. Back in France, he acts in a cellar of the Riviera before continuing his journey to Lyon at the Auberge de l’Ile. In 2004, upon his arrival in the Languedoc, he joins the team of Bernard and Claudie Vidal at Château Liquière. “Things were not always easy. I'm not too manual. But it was a great rewarding experience that allowed me to move from the vineyard to the cellar, from the thinning-out of leaves to the bottling”.

Yannis Kherachi

The Cookery Workshop

By creating their Cookery Workshop in November 2003, Jacques and Laurent Pourcel's aim was to give people the opportunity of having access to a top restaurant, getting close to two top Chefs and their expertise.
Situated opposite the restaurant Le Jardin des Sens, in the heart of Montpellier, the Cookery Workshop, like cooking at home, welcomes all food lovers keen on learning a different style of cooking, the Mediter-ranean style of the Pourcel brothers, uninhibited, simple and tasty... encompassing the five senses. It's a creative workshop designed to learn more about the pleasures of the palate, to bring food lovers together to talk about food, where everyone can learn more about the tricks of the trade with a chef's advice so as to become familiarised with the various culinary techniques.
The workshop of the twins Chefs reveals the secrets of cooking around the world in a swirl of scents, tastes, and surprises!

Dominique Peyral-Bon

* * Extract from the book 'Cuisine en duo', by Jacques and Laurent Pourcel - Hachette Publishing - 1999.